In Hollywood: Stay on schedule and on budget, and you are free as a bird.

ATTILA SZALAY, ASC

In 1992, I sat across from Georgy Illès, who was then president of the HSC. He learned forward and said,’ Do you want to know the secret of success in this business? As a freelancer, you’re like a call girl; never stop selling yourself.’ I pass this advice along to students whenever I get the chance.

MICHAEL WEAVER, ASC

Never show fear.

TAMI REIKER, ASC

Pick your battles, and never eat the fish.

JON JOFFIN, ASC

You’re never done lighting, but at some point you have to stop.

MAURO FIORE, ASC

My father once told me that a true master only needs a few tools. Pride in your work is a paramount.

FRANCIS KENNY, ASC

‘How to walk the line between clever and stupid.’ Through discipline comes freedom.

STEVEN V.SILVER, ASC

Make sure your chosen profession is your passion.

LEX DuPONT, ASC

From Gil Hubbs [ASC]: We are freelancers and must make tough career decisions.There will be times when it’s best for us to leave a project early.Some people won’t understand that; one probably won’t have an enduring relationship with them anyway. And from Julio Macat: be optimistic even during the darkest moments.Cinematographers are highly visible on set and our mood can affect the crew.

JAN KIESSER, ASC

In my early days of operating for Vilmos Zsigmond, we were discussing lighting, and he advised me to observe light in the real world all the time. I often reflect on that as I continue to observe and learn every day.

MARK VARGO, ASC

Don’t ever give up.And make lots of friends in the business.

TOM HURWITZ, ASC

Always listen to the story.Great cameramen use their ears as well as their eyes.

I don’t remember ever receiving advice about my work from anyone except my gaffers, who advised me not to be so impatient.However, I once received this general advice : ‘ A movie is like the Tour de France: It’s not necessary to win all the stages. It’s more important to resolve the worst situations,maintain the consistency, and then arrive in Paris as the winner’.

REXFORD METZ, ASC

‘Never say no!’

GEORGE MOORADIAN, ASC

At the bottom of a silver mine in Park City, Utah, 1 1/2 Miles underground Garland Wilde intoned, ‘Don’t be afraid of the Dark.’ You can take that advice anywhere.

JAMES A. CHRESSANTHIS, ASC

Vilmos Zsigmond told me, ‘Jim, it takes 10 years to become a cinematographer, so be patient and remember, nice guys finish first. And promise me that when you are a successful, you will help the next person.’

ALEX FUNKE, ASC

‘Never ask the crew to undo something they already done!’ And, ‘Always finish the day leaving a shot ready to start right away the next morning.’

KRAMER MORGENTHAU, ASC

‘In this business, if you aren’t early, you are late.’

JONATHAN FREEMAN, ASC

‘Trust your instinct. Your first choice is usually the best.’

KEN KELSCH, ASC

John Cassavetes told us at NYU not to stop shooting.Just figure it out a way to do it.

JULIO G. MACAT, ASC

When you shoot, take chances, don’t play it safe; push the envelope into that scary and dangerous place; do not settle for mediocre work. There is always for improvment . Be original; do ordinary things in a extraordinary way. Don’t forget you are telling a story- so what does each shot say? Shoot images that you would enjoy watching.

From Owen Roizman :” There’s no need to have an ego as a man. Let your work on that screen be your ego”

DENNIS MUREN, ASC

Jim Danforth taught me the value of critical thinking, especially about your own work, and how to see your work as the audience will see it. And during THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, George Lucas showed me a helicopter shot and asked if I could add a creature running in the ground, which at the time seemed impossible because of the six axis camera motion. He said, ‘ Give it some thought,’ and within 15 minutes I had a solution,That Taught me that a right answer might be one thought away.

TOBIAS SCHLIESSLER, ASC

‘Don’t shoot your demo reel.Be true to the story.’

DEAN SEMLER, ASC, ACS

From George Miller:’Just be bold,Dino!Be as bold as yo want!’

BRUNO DELBONNEL, ASC, ACS

When I was an AC, a gaffer told me, ‘Don’t run on a set, ‘because you show everyone that you probably forgot something. I still don’t run on set, and I try not to forget too many things’.

TOM HOUGHTON, ASC

I received early encouragement from Woody Omens,ASC; and Walter Lassally,BSC taught me many crucial concepts over the course of several projects. I also appreciated the opportunity to be on set of Fat City, where Conrad Hall, ASC was executing innovative ideas using 8k (4x2K) umbrella lights for the fight scenes.In dailies,John Huston would just put his head on down and listen, trusting Conrad to deliver their visual plan.

DANTE SPINOTTI, ASC, AIC

It was actually given to my son when he was getting ready to direct his thesis film at the American Film Institute.Jay Fortune, a New York gaffer I ‘d just completed a film with, suggested to him, ‘ Don’t lose your sense of humor,even when everything seems to be going in the opposite direction.’

XAVIER GROBET, ASC, AMC

Life is like an airplane: you either get on board , or you don’t . It’s up to you.

DAN MINDEL, ASC

When I was a focus puller on a movie with Adrian Biddle, BSC, I told him I did not have focus marks, and he said ‘ Feel The Force. ‘ I use that advice all the time.

Kate Nelligan , a superb actor, once told me that if I could light women beautifully, I would not help many careers, but I would also definitely help mine.

PETER SUSCHITZKY, ASC

I Was once invited to a dinner where Billy Wilder was one of the guests.He asked me what I was doing, to which I replied, ‘Oh , a small movie’ He said,’ There’s no such thing, just good ones and bad ones.’ For the rest, I listened to an inner voice that said,’Develop as many interests as you can, as you will need them to fill the long gaps between movie and enrich life in general.’

PETER WUNSTRORF, ASC

‘Be Yourself’. I was about to interview for the aforementioned pilot (Millennium), and I was nervous.;my Good friend Dominique Fortin said, ‘Just be yourself;they will like you.’ I didn’t try to fake it. I thought it went badly, but in prep, the producer told me, ‘You came in and only spoke about the work,and that’s all Chris Cater cared about.’

THOMAS ACKERMAN, ASC

Legendary gaffer George ‘Popeye’ Dahlquist used to tell his lamp operatos ‘Boys,if you’re not 10 minutes early,you’re 10 minutes late.’Readiness is a big part of what we do.

JOHN LINDLEY, ASC

When I wanted to quit a miserable show, the director, Virgil Vogel,said,’Kid, never quit.If you have to leave, get fired.If you quit,it will always reflect on you.’

ALAN CASO, ASC

From John Frankenheimer: ‘Alan, whatever you do in this business,don’t ever let them push you into shooting something you know is just bad,something you’ll end up regretting or hating.Simple rule of thumb: ‘don’t shoot s**t!’

MARK IRWIN, ASC, CSC

When director Gil Cates chose me to shoot a love story starring Bea Arthur and Richard Kiley, he said he liked what i’d done on The Fly.I reminded him that Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davies were in a horror film, not a love story.He said,’No,they were in love, and that’s what the audience saw. Sometimes you have to ignore the words and let the pictures tell the story.

AARON SCHNEIDER, ASC

When I was starting out, a veteran first assistant told me the 2-make Rule,’ make your leading ladies look beautiful and make your day.’

ALEXANDER GRUSZYNSKI, ASC

I think it was Sven Nykvist, ASC who once said, ‘Take chances, but when you do, lower the ASA settings on your light meter.’ To this day, no matter how great the latitude of the film stock is, I always calibrate my meter to a lower settings than what the manufacturer recommends.

ANASTAS MICHOS, ASC

I was working with Don McAlpine,ASC,ACS, and getting impatient watching the director, producer and assistant director endlessly discuss the next setup. Don turned me and said in his inimitable Aussie drawl,’Relax: Sooner or later they’ll have to come over to talk to us.’

PAUL RYAN, ASC

Michael Chapman, ASC said ‘You have to give the impression you know what you’re doing even when you’re totally confused.’

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